The Hill News

The White House's top economic adviser urged Congress on Friday to speed up passage of jobs legislation to stimulate the economy.

In a statement on Friday's job report, Christina Romer, chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said tepid private sector job growth shows the need for more stimulative measures.

"[T]oday’s employment report emphasizes just how important the additional jobs measures before Congress are," Romer said. "In addition to the state fiscal relief nearing passage, the president strongly supports the small business jobs bill and targeted incentives for clean energy investments."

The Senate passed state aid this week. Democratic leaders are calling the House back to session to vote on the measure during August recess.

Cautioning that "there will likely be more bumps in the road ahead," Romer nevertheless noted that "[w]e have made substantial progress from the days when employment was declining by 750,000 a month."

Romer, who announced Thursday that she is leaving her White House position, warned that no single jobs report represents a trend.

"The monthly employment and unemployment numbers are volatile and subject to substantial revision," she said. "Therefore, it is important not to read too much into any one monthly report, positive or negative."